Define stress.
Define Happy.
Disclaimer: This blog is a looooong entry. If you happen to get sleepy easy or want to fall asleep, this will definitely help you.
I was busy these past few months, my lack of entries says it all. It started in October, when I was helping my bestfriend with some preparations for her wedding, and I was doing “some” preparations as well. Being the maid of (dis) honor, I sort of planned a bridal shower for her. (The stress got to me, as I lost my voice for the very first time in my life.) She got married last October 28, it was very beautiful, I could not say anything went bad or wrong with the celebration. I was entertaining Bam and Elmer most of the reception that I wasn’t really able to bond with the Kolokoys. But, it was fine, I enjoyed the boys’ company anyways. I was supposed to go with Janine and Wilson to Hong Kong, it was their honeymoon, and I think I’d just be in the way (and the fact that I didn’t have the money yet) that I decided to postpone my trip and join my officemates’ trip to HK in December.
November was also a busy month, since I knew that I would be leaving on the first week of December to go to Hong Kong, I compelled myself to finish the syllabus before November ended. I had a string of Sunday make – up classes, which led to worsening the condition of my vocal cords. I went to the doctor and she recommended that I take some rest, which I could not really do because I had to, you know, teach. It was two whole weeks of “therapy”, religiously drinking the prescribed medicine, staying away from food that was not good for me while eating as many times as possible (because of reflux), and trying to control my allergies (which was contributing to the condition of my vocal cords). While trying to resolve this problem with my health, I was also busy preparing for the alumni homecoming, attending NAMA board meetings and being present in all (or at least, most) of the EEC student council activities. This was also a busy month for them as the annual search for the most good-looking guys and girls in our school was ongoing. They had pre-pageants, photo shoots, practices and the actual night which needed the guidance of an adviser. Good thing is, all of these events had minor glitches/problems, which I and the kids will eventually face (hopefully, Dean has forgotten all about it by next year!). As all of this was going on, I had no time to get excited with my trip to Hong Kong. Breaks during the month was most welcome, holidays were heaven – sent. I was praying to God for my voice, which I badly needed for work, and He never failed me.
By the first week of December, I was all set for my vacation, I prepared activities for my students during the week I was gone, and had my mobile phones on roaming just in case I needed to be spoken to. I could say I only sort of enjoyed my stay in HK because I was totally thinking about the following Saturday’s event. It was the homecoming already. Guests were not confirming their attendance. I was really crippled by the lack of officers in our organization due to the fact that MOST of them are abroad. In HK, I went to Ocean Park and Disneyland, and enjoyed the ladies’ and men’s night market. I was a kid in Disneyland, that much I can say. I am a 20-something year old child in Disneyland, jumping (literally, my companions can attest to that) with excitement at the sight of Mickey Mouse and the rest of the Disney characters, I was in tears when the parade started, as I could not believe what was happening before my eyes. A dream came true, I was fulfilling a goal, it may be small or petty, but I, not my parents, but I made it happen. I was truly proud of myself, and I was really in tears. I had fun times in Disneyland, most of them with the good – looking Chinese men who willingly took pictures with me (hahaha!) I love Hong Kong, transportation was very efficient, traffic was good, it was impossible to get lost because there were signs everywhere (maybe because I spent my time in the downtown area). It was clean and SMOKE-FREE (my kind of city, goodbye allergies!). Maybe the only thing I did not like when I was there was the language barrier, we nearly got lost because I forgot the address of our hotel and the taxi driver did not know where it was either (fortunately, I had a map in my bag!) We ate street-food (here in the Philippines it would be considered eating in a carinderia), and everytime we’d order, it would be a pain (spell nose-bleed!), and just pointed to pictures wishing we were not ordering some exotic food like frog or snake. I always ate my meals with iced milk tea, which I absolutely love! Too bad, iced milk tea is not readily available here. I had one day to myself, I did nothing but sleep and read the book I took with me. My flight back was scheduled on a Thursday night, and the shuttle I was riding from the hotel (we transferred from a city hotel to a 5-star hotel in the New Territories, which was like 1 hour away from the city) to the airport was stopped by the police. Apparently, the driver was recklessly driving and was reported by passenger from a taxi (I could not believe how efficient their police are! Seriously, I was impressed!). The police were polite enough to explain the situation to us and was apologetic by the delay, I feared that I would be late for my flight but the processing took about 15 minutes only. When I was at the airport, I had a little time and had a few hundred HK dollars left that I looked around and shopped first. Too bad, chocolates were all my money could buy. The plane ride back was horrible; I had to go to the restroom to throw up. And by the time I got home, it was already 2am. I needed to be in school before 7am. When I woke up that morning, it was already 7am. I totally missed the alarm, when I checked my mobile phone, it was on silent mode, so stupid of me. I could not take my car because it was my car’s “day off” from the city streets (read: color coding! ggrrr..), so I asked my brother to drop me off at Edsa so I can take a taxi to school. It was a start of a very tiring day! The following night was the homecoming, it was December 8 and the metro was jammed! The local government closed a major road that it caused major traffic in the city. Most of the people I invited were not able to come because of the HEAVY traffic. (Guys, if you are reading this, it’s fine, I totally understand!) We had a band that night, and they had no vocalist, so anybody who had the guts can sing with them. I’m gutsy, and tired, and totally not ashamed, so I volunteered myself to sing! Hahaha! I sang about 4 songs that night by the next morning, I was, again, totally raspy.
The following week was not different from the last few weeks, stressful! I had to finish grading papers, put all of them in order and submit the grades by Saturday which happens to be my friend’s wedding also. I thought I was not going to be able to go with them, because at around 11:30am, I was still not finished with the grades, and her wedding was at 3pm, and it was in Calamba, Laguna. I had to meet my other friends in Makati first before heading to Laguna. Unfortunately, as if I was branded with a huge birthmark on my behind, the traffic was heavy from the Nichols toll plaza to the Calamba toll plaza (the entire expressway, END TO END!) due to volume and road construction. We were late! Since we experienced traffic on the way, we figured, it would also be traffic on the way back to Manila, so we literally “ate and ran” from the wedding. Back to Makati, Janine, Wilson and I went to Forbes and visited a friend there, after a few hours, I went to Parañaque for a birthday party, I was so tired, that I fell asleep (sitting) despite the fact that it was so noisy! I arrived home at around 3am. The following day, the Kolokoys and I attended the Christening of our barkada’s daughter, the singles agreed to meet at Glorietta 4 before heading to St. Andrew’s Church in Makati, and as before, we were late! Well, not really, because we were lost, we didn’t know which part of the church we needed to go to. When everything was finished, we headed back to the mall and shopped for a while. When my feet got tired, I BEGGED my single friends to rest at Food Choices, and much to my surprise, I fell asleep again (sitting!) while waiting for our married friends. We parted ways and we were grateful that the weekend activities came to an end. We headed home and by 10pm, I was already asleep.
I’ve had a busy and stressful few months. But I am grateful, because feeling stressed meant that I had something to do that is important (at least for me!). I made friends, acquaintances and had wonderful experiences with them. I was with great company. And looking back, I had no regrets, the stress was worth it all!
